The Ghost Witch

“Hey, Cheyanne.” I hear my name called from somewhere behind me. I turn around, looking to see who is looking for me when I notice Katie rushing towards me beaming. She stands in front of me, grinning like a schoolgirl. I can’t help but smile back in return as I wonder what has her so excited.

As she catches her breath, “are you coming with us to the reservation tonight? My friend Jeremy has a family that lives on the reservation and wants us to meet them.” Katie explains, grabbing my hand, pulling me towards our dorm. I spin around as she leads me in the direction towards Androscoggin Hall. I walk next to her as we continue walking.

I decided to ask her my dreaded question. “Sure, how long are we going to be there? Jeremy told me it was for the entire weekend, not sure if I can go because of this psychology paper due next week.” I know Katie likes Jeremy, and I can tell this is the real reason she wants to go. I can feel Katie squeeze my hand. I look over at her and see her face looks upset.

She looks up at me with her puppy dog eyes, “please don’t leave me alone out there with Jeremy. I don’t know how to talk to him without sounding like an idiot. We’ll be camping on the outskirts of the reservation because we aren’t allowed to stay there overnight.” Katie pouts, and I have a hard time turning her down when she does.

I sigh and smile warmly at her, “okay, but you owe me big time. What time are we leaving because I still need to pack a bag.” Katie squeals with excitement. She drops my hand and starts jumping up and down. She reminds me of a little kid, and I can’t help but laugh at her.

“Thank you thank you thank you. You won't’ regret this; you’re the best friend ever.” She flashes a broad smile and grabs my hand again as we make our way into our dorm. Sometimes I wish she knew how I felt because she is absolutely adorable when she smiles like that. It makes her blue eyes shine like the sun on the ocean. I realize I’m staring at her and blush, I quickly look away.

When I hear her laugh, “you’re so weird sometimes. Have you heard from Mike yet about your date for next weekend?” I whip my head towards her with my mouth hanging open, I just forgot I didn’t tell her that it wasn’t going to work out.

Katie looks at me with concern plastered across her face, “Is everything okay?” She rubs my hand with hers.

I shut my mouth, and I can feel my face get warm from embarrassment. “Mike is dating Vivien, except he never told me. I heard Vivien talking to Chloe about seeing Mike this weekend at his parent's cabin.”

I notice Katie's face turn red, and her eyes say it all, “what a complete asshole. I can’t believe he would try to play her.” She pauses, seeing my embarrassed face. “Hey, at least you know now, and you’ll find someone.” Katie opens our dorm room door, and we start to pack our bags for the trip. We fold our clothes in silence, not sure what to say. I shove my clothes into a small duffle bag, while Katie neatly places everything in her small suitcase. Once we are definite, we have everything we exit our dorm room and lock the door. We make our way back to the front of the house.

I adjust my duffel bag on my shoulder, “Katie, do you know where we’re supposed to meet Jeremy?” I ask, wondering if we’re meeting him at the reservation or at his dorm. Katie keeps walking down the stairs.

“Jeremy will be meeting us out front, he’s picking us up.” She looks over at me suddenly, worry creasing her forehead. “I hope that’s okay, I didn’t feel comfortable following him there.” Uncertainty laces her voice as she reaches the landing.

I smile, “no, it’s alright. I just wasn’t sure what the plan was, that’s all.” We make our way outside and see a red Kia Optima waiting by the curb. Katie perks up and walks quickly toward the passenger side of the car. Jeremy has the window down, Katie sticks her head in, and her leg pops up as she leans in.

“Hey, is it okay if I take the front seat?” I smile and roll my eyes at her reaction to seeing Jeremy. I’m surprised she didn’t try kissing him with how close she is to him. He smiles at her and leans closer to her.

“Sure, no problem, hop in. Oh, you can put your bags in the trunk, I’ll pop it open for you.” I nod at him and walk around to the back of the vehicle. I drop my duffel bag in, and Katie is soon standing next to me.

“I hope you don’t mind sitting in the back seat, you know how I feel about him.” She smiles and puts her hand on mine. I look over at her and give a half-smile.

“I know Katie, it’s cool, I don’t mind. I’m still in the car and going on this trip.” I break my gaze from hers and look in the trunk. It’s packed full of tents, a cooler, and his own baggage. Katie let go of my hand and makes her way to the front passenger side door. I hear it open, and I close the trunk. I get into the back seat and buckle my seatbelt. Katie is already laughing at something Jeremy said. I roll my eyes and know this is going to be a long trip.

“Jeremy, where is the reservation?” I ask, breaking their conversation about gymnastics.

Jeremy looks at me in the rearview mirror, “well, I’m not sure how much you know about the area of Maine, but we’re heading to the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation. It’s part of Washington County, specifically the first district.”

Katie pipes up, “how far away is it from our campus at The University of Maine?”

Jeremy looks at his GPS, “roughly ninety-one miles. It’ll take us almost two hours to get there.”

His eyes return to staring at the road. Katie shifts in her seat nervously, I can tell she’s trying to think of something to break the silence. I look out the window and watch the forests pass by enjoying the quiet. It’s been a while since I had a break from studying, essays, and clubs. I start to wonder why Jeremy wants us to meet his family, it doesn’t seem like a typical event you spring on friends. I speculate if there is a specific reason why Jeremy wants to take us to the Indian reservation and if anyone else will be joining us. Guys tend to want to hang out with other guys, not two young women. I look at the back of Jeremy’s seat and decide to break the silence.

“Jeremy, is anyone else going to meet us there?” I ask, feeling Katie’s glare for asking such a question.

Jeremy laughs, “I didn’t tell you two? Umm, well, Justine, Brian, and Leo will be there. They’re meeting us at the campsite.” Katie turns towards his direction with an angry look on her face. I guess she was hoping for a romantic weekend with Jeremy and now realizes that it wasn’t going to happen.

“You have got to be kidding me. Why are we going out to the reservation anyway?” Katie yells, then blushes in embarrassment, thinking she let out her true feelings for him.

Jeremy’s face looks defensive, “I asked you two to come because I thought you would have fun. Justine, Brian, Leo, and I are writing an essay for anthropology on Native American legends. I chose a specific one from my family’s tribe, the rest of the group is researching other legends from different tribes. I’m not sure what you were hoping for, but you two are friends of mine, and I thought a short vacation was needed.”

Everything clicks into place, it all makes sense as to why he wanted to take us to the reservation. He is an anthropology major, it’s not surprising that this was the point all along. I can see Katie staring out the window in utter embarrassment. Her face is a bright red, and she’s trying to use her blonde hair to hide her emotions clearly written across her face. The rest of the car ride to the reservation is in silence. I open my window and take in the smell of pine trees and the carbon monoxide exhaust from the vehicles around me. I can’t help but think about my paper, and what I’m going to write it on, I have to choose a behavior that can be a part of specific mental illnesses. While I’m deep in thought, I hear birds chirping, and Jeremy breaks me from my mind.

“We’ll be there shortly, does anyone need anything because now is the time to make a pit stop.” I can tell that he’s trying to break the silence that is making the ride awkward.

“I’m all set, I feel we should get there soon before the sunsets. It won’t be fun trying to set up camp in the dark.” I say with a nervous laugh, I’ve never enjoyed being out in the dark. I’ve had a fear of the dark since my cousin was attacked by a rabid dog while we were out in the woods at night. We never saw it coming, let alone heard anything, we were too busy laughing to hear anything odd. She has scars on her face and arms. Lea has severe nerve damage that caused her to undergo a lot of physical therapy. I have a scar on my right arm from when I was trying to get the dog off her. I don’t have a fear of the dark, I’m fine as long as I’m inside a building. I look outside the window at the sky and then check my phone to see what time it is. My phone shows that it is only three-thirty. We should have plenty of time to set up camp for the night. However, I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“I don’t need anything either, I agree with Chey. I want to get there sooner rather than later.” Katie laughs and smiles at me as she uses her nickname for me. I give her a half-smile and shift in my seat to get more comfortable. After thirty minutes go by, Jeremy pulls up next to a small beach. There’s a green SUV next to us, and people are already setting up a camp on the beach.

I look at Katie, and she looks at me with a smile, then looks at Jeremy, who is now getting out of the car. He walks to the back of the vehicle and begins pulling items out of the vehicle. Katie soon exits the sedan and joins him, I decide to follow suit. I shut my door and walk to the back of the Kia. I stand next to Katie and grab my bag from the trunk. Jeremy already has the tents out as well as the cooler. He takes the tents and meets the group on the beach to help them set up. Katie grabs the cooler and almost drops it, I chuckle.

I walk over to Katie before she does drop it, “would you like a hand with that?” I ask, smiling at her and trying not to laugh.

She gives me an angry look, “not if you're just going to laugh at me.” Katie exclaims, looking like she is about to stomp her foot in frustration. I quickly grab the other side to hide my amusement. We make our way to the group and decide to put the cooler down between the two tents that the group put up. Katie starts to help Jeremy put the tent up, I choose to help Justine with the fire. Leo and Brian are going through the cooler to determine what to eat tonight. Once Justine and I have the fire going, we both look over at Brian and Leo laughing about something. I walk over curious about what is going on when I see them laughing at the drinks.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer. Brian and Leo look at me and then at each other before bursting out laughing. I start to chuckle at their laughter, not sure what the joke is.

“Can you believe this Brian, there’s no beer. Only fruit soda and Pepsi, what the hell does he think we are, little kids.” The one named Leo says laughing, my mouth hangs open shocked that this is what they're laughing about. Brian smiles at me before answering Leo,

“No kidding, I wanted to relax and have fun. Beer never hurt anyone, what do you think?” I blush and smile, averting Brian’s gaze. He’s a football player on campus, he’s a running back. Brian is tall and average weight, with muscles visible but not protruding through his shirt. He has green eyes and light brown hair, he has dark-rimmed glasses on, which surprised me. Usually, he wears contacts, but that might be just during football. I soon realize I’m staring when he starts laughing before I look away. Leo is busy searching the cooler for anything other than soda when he finds a few beers. He taps Brian on the shoulder to get his attention, breaking Brian’s gaze.

“Look what I found, he wasn’t holding out on us. There’s glorious beer man, we should have some of these tonight.” Leo begins grabbing more beer out of the cooler when we are joined by Jeremy and Katie. Justine is busy going through one of the backpacks to notice us. Jeremy looks down at Leo, kneeling on the ground, searching through the cans to find the beer. Jeremy’s face is pissed, causing Katie to step away from him and look at me for guidance on what is about to happen.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jeremy practically screams at Leo, who just stops moving with his hand still in the cooler. Leo slowly turns his head around to face Jeremy.

“I was looking for something to drink and found beer, so I decided to take them out for tonight.” He smiles sheepishly as he takes his hand out of the cooler. Jeremy looks at the cans on the ground, and he glares at Leo as if he is going to punch him.

“Why did you take ten cans of beer out of the cooler when there are only six of us, and maybe the girls don’t want a beer.” He says with a growl, and Leo gets up, standing in front of him. Leo looks down at the beers on the ground and then back at Jeremy.

“Well, I can put them back; it’s not a big deal. What are you so pissed off about?” Leo looks quizzically at Jeremy, determining what to do next.

Jeremy sighs and makes a forget it gesture, then walks away. Katie follows after him to find out what is wrong. Leo shakes his head and kneels next to the cooler, he grabs a beer to put back in the cooler, but I stop him.

“You have to clean it off before putting them back. It’ll make the water disgusting, and some of the cans will get dirty if you do that. Someone might get sick.” I interrupt and kneel next to him to help him clean up the beers. He looks over at me and smiles,

“Thanks for the help, aren’t you a lesbian?” He asks, and I blush, I drop the can of beer in my hand and stare at the ground.

“Dude, you don’t ask something like that out of nowhere, why do you care anyway what she is?” Brian asks, sounding embarrassed for his friend.

“Hey, I’m just curious. Someone’s gotta ask, right?” I can feel Leo staring at me, like the sun on a hot summer’s day.

I clear my throat, “I’m not a lesbian,” I can feel my voice crack, “I’m bisexual there is a difference.” I continue staring at the ground, unable to look up at either one of them. I try to keep my emotions in check, which is becoming more and more difficult since I haven’t told anyone. I’ve been too ashamed to tell anyone about my sexuality because most people are one or the other, whereas I’m both.

“You clearly have no filter, Leo. Why don’t you go help Justine and see if Jeremy has cooled off some? We’ll finish cleaning the beer cans and putting them back in the cooler. Just get out of here before you make it worse.” I hear Leo get up off the ground and walk off, but I’m met with a new set of knees next to me.

“I’m sorry about Leo, he doesn’t think before opening his mouth. There have been rumors going around that you and Katie are lesbians. She gives you nicknames, and you two are inseparable apart from certain classes that you don’t share.” Regret can be heard in his voice.

“I hate to break it to you, but Katie is not a lesbian. I’ve been giving her hints for months, and she hasn’t figured it out. However, Jeremy is another story. She adores him, but doesn’t have the guts to ask him out.” I say laughing, not sure why, but part of me finds it funny how Katie hasn’t figured out my sexuality when we share a dorm together. I can hear Brian laughing too,

“Wow, so that’s why she’s here. I was wondering why she would want to go camping, let’s face it; she isn’t the type. She’s the type of girl who cannot live without her phone, let alone people surrounding her. I don’t know how you can put up with it.” He jokes as he begins to clean off a beer can.

“Katie’s not boring, that’s for sure. She makes things interesting, and I’m never sure what she’ll do next.” I say as I pick the can off the ground that I dropped. We pick up the beer in silence until Brian breaks the silence.

“What’s it like being bisexual? I know it means you like both guys and girls, but do you have a preference?” He quickly looks down at the ground in regret. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked, I just don’t quite understand, that’s all.” He quickly grabs a can and rushes to clean it before putting it back in the cooler. I can see that he’s embarrassed for asking and is trying to hide it. I smile and put my hand on his,

“It’s okay, I don’t really have a preference. However, I do find more girls to be attractive than guys. I guess that could mean I have a preference. However, I do find some guys to be attractive too.”

Brian looks over at me and gives a half-smile, “oh, okay, it’s like me. I don’t find every girl attractive, but there are some I do.”

I smile and take the last can of beer, clean it and place it back into the cooler. Brian shuts the lid of the cooler and helps me up off the ground. I can smell hot dogs roasting, making me realize I’m starving. We make our way back to the group in silence, and I take a seat next to Katie, Brian sits next to Leo. I stare at the fire and realize the sun has almost descended, giving way to the night sky. I do my best to ignore the fear in the back of my mind making me feel sick to my stomach. I turn my attention to cooking my hot dog and listening to Justine talk about the legend she found.

“They believe that shamans that have killed a close loved one gain the abilities of an animal, thus becoming skin-walkers. The creatures make burial grounds their lairs and can use corpse dust to poison victims. It’s pretty creepy, and I think it will make for a good addition to our paper.” I can hear Katie shiver next to me, I look over at her and smile, hoping to provide some comfort.

I look across the fire and see Leo smiling a devilish grin. “Are we telling scary stories tonight or what? I have a good one for you all, although I’m sure you’ve all heard it before.” He pauses and looks around at all of us before continuing. “A few friends decide to go camping one bitter cold weekend in Wisconsin. They set up camp and huddle around the campfire to keep warm. The sun begins to set, casting shadows across the group, making the barren trees look like claws reaching out towards them.” Leo pauses and takes a drink from his beer, then continues.

“Penelope, Carrie, Jacob, and Richard decide to get to bed early in hopes of warming up. Penelope and Richard head towards their tent as Jacob and Carrie make their way to their own. As the couples huddle up together for warmth and soon drift off to sleep, sounds of howling can be heard. Penelope is the first to awaken by the eery noises and decides it is only the wind. Sleep soon returns to her, and all is quiet.”

Leo smirks eerily at all of us from across the fire, I can feel someone take my hand, causing me to jump. I laugh as I realize it is only Katie’s hand holding mine. She looks over at me, appearing pale as if she has seen a ghost, I clutch her hand tighter and give a reassuring grin. Our attention is soon brought back to Leo’s story.

“Carrie awakens to the sound of something brushing up against the tent. Assuming it is a tree branch moving in the wind, she ignores it and tries to return to sleep. Growls can be heard from outside the tent, causing Carrie to sit up in her sleeping bag. Looking around, she can see a strange shape drape across the tent. She wakes up Jacob, wondering if it is a bear or some other creature looking for food. Jacob looks at Carrie, seeing her terrified expression, she points to the side of the tent where the shadow was. When Jacob glances in the direction Carrie is pointing, there is no shadow. He believes she is playing a trick, and they start arguing when a scream is heard from the direction of Penelope and Richards tent.” Leo hunches over, getting close to the fire, his face appearing sinister with the flickering flames.

“Carrie and Jacob quickly get dressed and shove their feet in their boots to avoid frostbite from the bitter snow. As they exit the tent and gaze in the direction of their friend's tent, they see a tall skinny naked creature that is similar to a human, but wrong. His arms are too long for a human, and the smell was unbearable. The beast is bent over the mangled tent, the sounds of bones crunching could be heard. Carrie and Jacob stand there, staring at the monster in shock until they see dangling from the creatures clawed hand are pieces of flesh and entrails. Carrie lets out a guttural scream, knowing the fate of her friends” Leo takes a pause and finishes his beer, crushes it, and continues the tale.

“The beast turns it’s head in their direction and roars in a vicious fury. Jacob grabs Carrie’s hand and runs into the woods. They can hear the creature lumbering behind them, breaking twigs and branches as it moves. The creature appears to be gaining on them when they slip into an underground cave. Jacob hopes it is a safe place to hide until they walk further into the cavern. The smell of the monster wafts around them when Carrie steps on something that makes a loud crack. It’s incredibly dark, with little light coming in, making it hard to see. They reach the back of the cave, hoping there is a tunnel that leads out. To Jacob’s surprise, there is a small hole big enough for a human to go through. He gives Carrie a boost to help her up to the hole when he hears growls coming from the entrance. Carrie begins to move faster, as Jacob jumps up, grabbing the sides to pull himself inside.

He clambers inside, trying to grab something to pull his legs up. That’s when he begins to scream in agony from the pain of being ripped out of the hole. Carrie keeps moving, tears streaming down her face as she makes it to the end of the tunnel. Jacob’s last screams of agony can be heard in the distance before all is quiet again.”

Leo looks at all of us with a sick grin on his face and laughs at our reactions. Katie grabs my hand tighter, I can tell she’s terrified from the story.

Justine punches Leo in the arm, “What was that for?” He asks, rubbing his arm with a shocked expression on his face.

“I wasn’t trying to tell a scary story, I wanted to tell you what I had found for a legend. We won’t be writing scary stories in our report, our professor would laugh at us. We are only supposed to write about their legends and stories, not with people or scary monsters.” Justine says hastily seeming irritated by Leo’s story.

Jeremy chimes in sounding annoyed by the story too, “Justine is right, we’re supposed to write down their accounts of their legends. Our professor is looking for facts, not fictional tales we have created. Do you have any factual information we can use, such as where the legend originates from?”

Leo looks at his hands, rubs them and begins talking without looking at any of us. “The windigo originates from the Cree tribe, there’s a museum in Wisconsin where individuals can read stories about it. Although the stories are not from the Cree but from the Ojibwe tribe. When a windigo is killed, the frozen body of the person it once was can be found inside. It’s thought to be the personification of winter famine and may have aided in reinforcing the cannibalism taboo.” He recites as if reading from a history book, with little feeling in his voice.

The group sits in silence for a few moments, when Brian gets up and walks towards the cooler, he grabs a drink and returns to the campfire. He sits back in his seat, looks around at the group, and decides to break the silence. “May I tell you what I chose to research for our article? Don’t worry, it won’t be a ghost story or whatever. I’ve been studying the owl women and the water panther. Justine asked me if I could examine two tribe stories since we have to have at least five tribes covered in our paper.” He pauses, opens his soda with a snap and fizz sound, before explaining his findings.

“The owl women are also known as the tah-tah-kle-ah in the Yakama language. The tribe is located in Washington. The tale explains that owl women are made up of five supernatural beings. These women resemble large owls that hunt at night and live in caves during the day, similar to bats. Legend says they hunt humans by mimicking our language. The owl women are supposed to have a specific craving for children, which I thought was weird.” He takes a drink from his soda and stares at the fire.

Justine moves her hands towards the fire to warm them, “That makes sense about having a legend about owls and death. In many Native American cultures, owls are a symbol of death, and it seems like that story is a warning to children. What is the story with the water panther? I’ve never heard of it before.” She looks in his direction with curiosity in her eyes.

Brian shifts in his chair, trying to get comfortable, “The water-panther is part of the Shawnee tribe. Its correct name is the Manetuwi-Rusi-Pissi in their language. It is a cross between a cougar and a dragon that lives in deep water. It is believed to cause men and women to drown if they come across it. Typically the creature is depicted with horns, scales, spines, a serpentine tail, and a feline head. Some stories portray the beast as a protector for the copper mines; others describe it as drowning those who wish to cross the deep waters of creeks. However, one story speaks of a woman who has a child with the beast. To protect its offspring, the creature flooded the village.

Jeremy turns his gaze from the fire, “do you know where the Shawnee tribe is located? I can’t remember.” He yawns and stretches out in his seat.

Katie yawns next to me, almost in unison with Jeremy, and her grip on my hand loosens. I look over at her and see her eyes are closing. I chuckle at how tired she is, “I think its getting late, maybe we should get some rest. What tent is everyone sleeping in?” My curiosity is peaked when I see there are only three tents up, one large tent and two smaller ones.

Justine gives me a playful look, “Which tent would you like to sleep in? Leo is sharing a tent with me. Jeremy and Brian were going to share a tent, but you’re welcome to share one with them instead, and Katie can have her own. Fair warning, though, there may not be enough room for all three of you. One of you may have to be with Katie, the choice is yours.” Justine gives a mischievous grin,

“So many options, what will you choose?” I could tell she is teasing me, and I nudge Katie. I figure I’ll ask her what she wants to do, and I’ll go along with whatever she decides.

Still groggy from exhaustion, Katie utters, “Huh, what? Oh, sorry, I think I fell asleep. Are we going to bed yet?”

I laugh, “Yeah, we’re heading to bed. Which tent do you want? You can share one with Jeremy or me, the choice is yours.” I smile at her awaiting her response.

“I thought we were sharing a tent, I’m not dating Jeremy, and I doubt he even likes me that way. He seems to think of me only as a friend or maybe a sister.” Katie stands up and rubs her eyes. I grab her hand and stand up next to her, I lead her to the tent I chose. After she climbs inside, I head towards the cooler where we dropped our bags. I find my duffle bag and her small suitcase and carry them to our tent. As I walk by, I see Brian putting huge rocks on top of the cooler and gather it’s to keep animals out. He notices my gaze and smiles, then waves. I blush and give a small gesture back.

I enter our tent to see Katie curled up in her sleeping bag fast asleep, still in the clothes she was wearing this afternoon. I get my sleeping bag out and get dressed in my pajama bottoms and a tank top. I put my duffel bag in the corner of the tent. Her small suitcase I place on the edge of her side of the tent. I get into my sleeping bag and lay there, staring up at the top of the tent. When it dawns on me that I didn’t pack my lantern. I always have it with me if I go camping because I don’t like the darkness in the woods. My heart begins to beat faster, my palms start to sweat, and I feel cold. I roll over onto my side and stare at the fire, still burning. The sight calms me as I soon drift to sleep.

In the morning, I awake to the sun's rays shining through the tent. I sit up and look around, soon grasping that I am alone. Smells of sausages drift into the tent-making my stomach rumble. I get up and get dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, I quickly put socks on and shove my feet into my hiking boots. I exit the tent with a yawn and make my way to the fire, I wonder if someone remembered to put it out last night. I make my way towards where Katie is seated, laughing at something Jeremy said. I stretch and notice Leo and Brian are still asleep, Justine is sitting in the same spot she was last night cooking breakfast. I get up and make my way around the campfire to see if she needs any help with the cooking.

“Do you need any help?” I soon regret my question when she glares at me.

I try to figure out what I did for her to look at me distastefully when she grumbles. “Just go away, when I’m done, you can cook yourself something. Just stay away from me.” She looks at the kabob skewers with the sausages on them, and I walk off. I return to my seat next to Katie and stare at the ground, trying to figure out what I did wrong. I feel a touch on my arm, causing me to jump.

I look over and see Katie staring at me. “What’s wrong, is everything okay?” Concern showing across her face as she rubs my arm with her hand.

“Justine seems mad at me for something, she told me to stay away from her and to make my own breakfast when I offered to help. I can’t figure out what I did.” I explain what happened, hoping Katie can figure it out.

Jeremy looks over at me, and then at Katie, he gets up and walks over to Justine. I can hear them fighting, but they’re talking so fast I can’t make out everything they are saying until I catch the word bisexual and slut. I immediately start to cry, and Katie stands up. She storms over to Justine, and I can’t believe what I saw, she slapped her. Justine has a shocked expression on her face with her hand holding her cheek.

Brian and Leo are already out of their tents as I clearly hear Katie yell, “who cares if she’s bi, lesbian, trans, queer, asexual, pansexual, or anything else. She’s my best friend, and I love her; if you have a problem with it, we’ll leave.” Brian glares at Leo and walks over to me with Katie following close behind.

“Are you okay? If you want to stay here and visit the reservation later, you can. I’m sure Katie here will stay behind with you, and I can take the two of you over there when you are ready.” I look up at him and see Katie beaming behind him, making gestures about Brian and I getting together. I can’t help but smile at her funny faces. Jeremy soon approaches with his head down, looking uncertain how to approach the situation. It takes him a few moments before finally talking.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that, I didn’t know she was uncomfortable around members of the LGBT. I guess in high school, some girl sexually harassed her, and she never got over it. I’ll figure a way for you to still enjoy yourself, I mean your my friend too. I never knew you were a part of the LGBT, I honestly thought you were straight, to be honest. Leo found out and told Justine.” He shakes his head and looks at the ground again, appearing to be deep in thought.

I take a deep breath and look at all their faces, I exhale, “I don’t care if she has a problem with me. I’m still trying to come to terms with my sexuality, no one even knew until last night when Leo blurted out the question. He thought Katie and I were lesbians.” I see Katie blush and look away, I smile at her.

“I decided to go on this trip, and I find it interesting. If there is going to be a problem, I’ll stay behind I don’t want you failing because Justine can’t handle being around a bisexual.” Katie looks at me her face red with anger,

“No you are not staying behind, if she’s scared you’ll do something to her, why haven’t you with me?” Jeremy looks at her shocked, Katie sees his expression and puts a finger up, “No seriously, Justine might be confused about her own sexuality. Don’t you dare feel ashamed of who you are. You are the kindest person I know, and if she has a problem, she’s going to just have to deal with it.”

My eyebrows raise in surprise at her reaction when I see Justine standing slightly behind Katie. My jaw suddenly drops, wondering how much Justine heard when she walks closer to Jeremy’s side.

“Listen, I guess I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have called you that, it’s just my mom cheated on my mama with a man. I learned she was a lesbian when I was growing up, she was married to my mama. I never forgave my mother for doing that to my mama, especially when mama got sick. She didn’t come and help us, she stayed with her lover, and I haven’t seen or heard from her since.” Her eyes begin to water, and she looks at the ground. Leo walks over to her and wraps his arm around her. He was behind Brian, I never saw him approach.

I gaze at Justine feeling pity for her situation, I can understand why she felt the way she does and why she said what she did. “I’m sorry about what happened to your mama and how your mother treated the two of you. She may not be okay with her sexuality, it can be difficult to accept, especially when there is so much hatred against us. It also doesn’t help that our society isn’t accepting of anyone being unique.” I smile at her, hoping to reassure her that all is forgiven and we can move on. Justine looks up at me and gives a half-smile before turning and walking away.

“Let’s eat I’m starving and tired of the drama, damn you girls always seem to come with it,” Leo jokes as he rushes to catch up to Justine.

“He has no filter at all.” Brian chuckles and looks at me with a smirk. He soon walks after Justine and Leo.

Jeremy looks up at Katie and then at me, a smile slowly creeps across his face. “Guess we should eat and head over to the reservation. Good thing we got up early.” He gives a slight chuckle and walks towards the others, leaving Katie and me behind.

Katie shifts her feet in the dirt, continuing to stare at her feet. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you think I would hate you, think less of you, that we wouldn’t be…friends?” I walk over to Katie and touch her arm.

“It’s not why I didn’t tell you, I didn’t tell you because I like you and I was worried you would want to switch rooms. I’m okay with being friends, though, so don’t worry. Between you and me, I kind of like Brian. What do you think about him?” I give a sly smile hoping to deter her from my reveal about having a crush on her.

She grabs my hand and brushes the tears from her eyes with her other. Sniffling she smiles at me, “I don’t care if you have a crush on me, I just don’t see you like that. You know I have a crush on Jeremy, there’s just something about him that makes my heart flutter.” She pauses to try and stop her nose from running. She clears her throat and begins again, “Brian, huh, he’s a hottie. I see how he looks at you, I think he’s going to ask you out before the trip is over.” She winks at me and takes my hand, leading me to the rest of the group to get breakfast.

Leo is trying his hardest to lighten the mood by telling jokes and making funny faces using his sausages. He starts telling tales about how he met Brian and Jeremy and some of the crazy things they did. Brian and Jeremy laugh at the reminiscence of their past together. Justine brings up a night at one of the sorority house parties that the fraternities crashed. Leo was a part of one of the frat houses. She said it was the best thing that could have happened at such a dull party. Once we all find we are done, we throw away our trash and lock it in one of the vehicles to ensure no animals destroy our campsite.

We begin our hike to the reservation, which from what Jeremy has told us is only a thirty-minute hike. The sun is shining, making the weather unusually warm for the spring, the only comfort is the shade we receive from the trees as we pass through the forest. The smell of pine and sap fills the air giving a sense of peace. Birds are heard chirping away in the trees, while insects make their own songs to be heard. Chipmunks and other small rodents can be heard scurrying through the leaves of the underbrush. Jeremy and Justine lead us out of the woods and into a clearing full of tiny homes, like a little village. Jeremy motions for us to follow him into the town, which is full of people talking and going about their daily lives. Jeremy makes his way to a house nearby and greets a few people. Some of them are happy to see him and give him hugs.

Justine turns around to face us, “just to let you know we’re going to be helping them with their tasks today. Jeremy comes by once a week to assist his great-grandfather with whatever he needs.” She turns around and hurries to catch up with Jeremy to help out the village. We follow behind her and into the town. A few women are weaving baskets. I smile at them, making my way towards a group singing songs with small children. I sit down near the group listening and watching them. A woman close by is making a beaded belt, I watch her work curious at how she makes characters appear with the beads. Katie sits across from me, happily listening to the children sing. I see Leo appear behind Katie and see him tap her on the shoulder. I look up to see Brian standing above me.

“Sorry to bother you, but would you like to go fishing? Figured you could learn the culture a little bit.” He smiles and offers a hand to help me up. Katie remains seated, giving me a wink. I smirk at her knowing what she’s thinking, I allow Brian to lead me to the water. I look over at Brian and notice he doesn’t have any fishing gear. I look at him curiously, wondering how we are going to fish without any equipment. I choose not to say anything because maybe he left it by the river. Once we arrive at the river, it’s a beautiful sight. People are canoeing on the river, and others are fishing with long nets along the bank. Birds are flying overhead, making different sounds. One appears to be a hawk or an eagle, probably looking for food.

Brian taps me on the shoulder to get my attention from my trance-like state of mind. I look over at him, and he motions for me to pick up one of the fishing nets. I observe the others around me fishing and decide that it doesn’t look too tricky. I pick up one of the long fishing nets and watch Brian dip his into the river. I follow Brians’ movements and lean over the edge of the riverbank to ensure I get the net into the water. That’s when I feel something bump into my legs, causing me to lose my balance. I fall into the cold water and make my way back to the surface, as I do, I can hear everyone laughing. I blush and avoid their stares as I swim towards the shore, pulling myself onto the bank of the river. I move my wet hair out of my eyes, a deep cough escapes from my mouth. I must have swallowed some water when I fell into the lake because my lungs hurt a little.

Brian helps me up, still laughing, “are you alright? I can’t believe you fell in. Let’s get you back to the village and get you a towel or blanket. It is already about four o'clock; they might be starting dinner. Maybe you can help them with that and get warm by the fire.” I look down at the ground, too embarrassed to look up. I wonder what knocked me into the water when I see a dog run by me towards the village. My mouth drops in shock and disbelief that a dog caused my most embarrassing moment.

As we near the reservation, Katie comes running over to me with concern creeping across her face. “What happened? Are you okay? Do you need any dry clothes? I’ll see if anyone has anything for you to borrow, I don’t think we can make it to the camp and back before dark.” Katie rambles sounding a little freaked out.

I manage to grab her arm gently, “Katie, slow down. I’m okay, I just need to warm up. I’m freezing, the water isn’t exactly warm this time of year. Unfortunately, it might be summer, but the water hasn’t figured that out yet.” I say with a laugh trying to calm her down.

Katie takes my hand and leads me over to the fire, where some of the women are cooking what smells to be some type of fish stew. Brian leaves us to go back to fishing with the locals. Katie goes to Jeremy’s grandfather’s house to see about getting me a blanket. I sit by the fire listening to the women talking to each other and teaching the children how to cook. I feel something drape over my shoulders as Katie sits down next to me.

“I hope that helps, it’s the only thing we could get you. Although Jeremy did give me his hoodie if you want to borrow it. I think it might help provide some warmth.” Katie sits closer to me to try and provide extra warmth.

She looks over at me with curiosity, surfacing in her eyes. “What happened anyway?”

I look over at her, pulling the hoodie over my head. I grab the blanket and wrap my hands inside it, then pull it closer around me. “I was standing too far over the edge of the river when a dog ran by knocking me in,” I say with a smile, realizing the silliness of it all.

She starts to giggle from my explanation. “I’m guessing, Brian saw that. I feel so sorry for you, that is incredibly embarrassing.” She grins at me, trying not to laugh and then looks at the fire.

We stare at the bonfire, watching the flames dance and shift with the breeze. The sunlight begins to fade behind the trees, and the first signs of stars start to appear in the sky. Soon Brian comes over with a bucket of fish and eels; he takes them over to some of the women. They take the bucket away into a small hut nearby.

Brian makes his way to the other side of me and sits down on the log. He looks over at Katie and me, “how are you doing? Any warmer?”

I look over at him with a half-smile, “getting there, the blanket and hoodie help along with the fire.”

“That’s good, glad you’re warmer. Where did you get the hoodie from, Jeremy?”

Katie chimes in, “Yep, he figured it would help warm her up faster. Did you catch a lot of fish?”

“Not really, between me and the others, we only filled the buckets halfway. That was nice of Jeremy though, I don’t have anything I could offer you except the t-shirt I’m wearing, but I doubt that would be of any help to you.” Brian chuckles, as Justine and Leo approach. Katie looks over at them, surprised to see both of them.

“Where have you two been all this time?” Katie asks with a devilish grin on her face.

Justine gives an embarrassed laugh, “get your mind out of the gutter. We’ve been helping with the garden, and Leo has been playing with the children. I was helping a little girl make a dress for her doll.” She says defensively as she sits down on the other side of Brian, as Leo sits next to her.

Jeremy starts walking over with his great-grandfather, I can see his grandfather holding a walking stick that has different carvings on it. Once the whole village arrives and takes seats around the bonfire, we begin to grab bowls and serve ourselves some of the stew.

The entire group is busy talking with each other and asking Jeremy questions about how he is doing if there is anything new in his life. As everyone begins to finish their meals, we help clean the dishes, and the women who cooked put them away. I am told it will be time for storytelling, Jeremy had already requested the story he has chosen for his report to be narrated by his great-grandfather. Everyone gathers around the fire, in the seats they wanted for dinner to listen to the story of the skudakumooch or as Jeremy has told us is the ghost witch tale.

Jeremy’s great-grandfather has chosen a seat on the other side of the bonfire, directly across from me. He takes his place, with his hand on his walking stick next to him. The firelight dances across his skin, creating various shadows to appear. We all sit with our full attention on him, waiting to hear the story.

“Long ago, the Passamaquoddy tribe had a shaman that helped the village by providing medical aid. Until a devastating disease broke out among the tribe when the Europeans came to our land. The shaman tried everything to cure the people of this strange illness but to no avail. More and more people began to die, leaving little options left for the shaman to take.” He coughs, then clears his throat before continuing with the tale.

“The shaman took drastic measures to try and save the rest of his people by delving into dark magic. This was forbidden as it went against the beliefs of our people. Unaware of the shaman’s new methods of trying to cure the sick, some of the diseased people were getting worse. While others were getting better, making it difficult to determine whether these strange practices were helping or having no effect. When the chief decided to fight the Europeans who brought these evil spirits into their village, the remaining members readied for war.” He is interrupted by a horrible coughing fit, causing someone nearby to offer him a glass of water. He takes the glass and drinks, coughs a little only to take another sip before trying to continue.

With a raspy voice now, he starts again, “the shaman remains behind to try and help the cure the people. No one knew that Europeans had already encircled the camp. When the Europeans found the shaman conducting his ceremony, they shot him, believing he was cursing them or conjuring something evil. They did not understand the ways of our people, and fear got the better of their judgment. The tribe returned anger welling up inside them, they buried their shaman in their burial grounds near their village. Days passed before the villagers were aware of an ominous presence within their camp. Members of the settlement were seeing the shaman at night in the woods surrounding their village.

The chief felt he may be vengeful for his death as well as the death of the villagers, causing him to be reanimated. Soon some of the villagers were hearing the Europeans camped nearby yelling in the morning rays and grieving. Battle talks began to rise again, for the Europeans were blaming their deaths on the tribe.” He begins to have a coughing fit again, and Jeremy stands to help his grandfather with the story. Jeremy takes over for his grandfather, appearing to have heard the story many times.

He stands next to his great-grandfather's seat, looks at his great-grandfather, and then focuses on the group watching him.

“The Europeans could not find any footprints that resembled the tribes, causing fears to arise because no one knew what was happening to their men. People were dying in the night without a trace, causing some hysteria. Talk of disease and other reasons were discussed, only they could not find any evidence of it either. The Passamaquoddy were seeing a stranger appearance of their shaman, his eyes appeared pure white and his face more sinister than they remembered. They believed the shaman had become a skudakumooch, causing fear among the villagers. The chief decided that the only way to be rid of it was to burn the shaman’s body to ensure he could not rise again. The next day the village went to their burial grounds and proceeded to dig up his corpse. They held a ceremony to aid his soul to move on as they burned his body. The deaths of the Europeans in the night slowly began to stop, and everything seemed to return to normal.” Jeremy pauses to look at his great-grandfather with a look of concern at his grandfather’s condition.

After a few moments, Jeremy’s gaze returned to the group, “this is an old tale that has been told for many years, and it is believed that the skudakumooch or ghost witch is real. The ghost witch can curse you or kill you, and it’s always at night. Be careful in the woods, for it is believed that the ghost witch resides in the dense forests.” I can tell Jeremy was using it for dramatic effect, especially with how close we were to the woods, and the sun had already set. The night sky was full of stars, and the moon had already risen to be with the stars.

Katie shivered next to me, and I slowly realized Brian was holding my hand. I gaze at him, he looks down and pulls his hand away from mine with a look of regret. I smile at him and take his hand blushing. Katie looks over at us and grins at me with anticipation. I see Brian from the corner of my eye look down at his hand. Jeremy walks his grandfather back to his home, as the group begins to disperse gathering the children for bed. Katie, Justine, and Leo get up and walk towards Jeremy’s grandfather’s house. I look over at Brian, who is staring at the fire.

Without looking at me, Brian removes his hand from mine. Confusion washes over me because I thought there was something between us. “Is everything okay?” I break the uncomfortable silence between us as he turns his head to look at me.

He clears his throat, “I have a girlfriend, now don’t get the wrong idea. I just broke up with her before the trip, so technically, I’m single. I just don’t know if I want a relationship right now. That’s not to say I don’t like you or that things couldn’t become more between us. I would just like sometime.” Regret, sadness, and a glimmer of hope appear in his eyes.

A smile finds its way across my face, “I understand, we barely know each other anyway. How long were you together?” I immediately wonder if I should have asked.

“We dated in high school, we go to different colleges now, and it just isn’t working out. We can’t see each other since Danielle going to college in Florida, and she seems like she has moved on. I’ve seen pictures on social media with some new guy, and I don’t want her to hold onto something that may have already died out.” His gaze returns to the fire when I see Jeremy and the others walking towards us.

I decide to get up knowing we’re going to have to hike back to our camp. When it dawns on me, the sunset leaving behind the darkness, and we have to walk back in it. My heart starts to race, and I can feel my palms begin to sweat with anxiety. I try to keep my emotions in check to not draw any attention to me because I don’t want to explain my phobia to them. Most people are made fun of if they have a fear of the dark.

“Are you ready to go? They want to get back to the camp before midnight, tomorrow they’re going to be writing down the information they gathered for their report.” Katie appears tired, and I nod in response. Jeremy walks ahead of us with Leo, Justine, and the rest of us follow behind. Brian rushes to catch up to Jeremy and Leo. We make our way into the woods, and my heart skips a beat. I gulp and try to look for a source of light when I see Katie pull out a small flashlight.

“So, how did your talk with Brian go? Are you two a thing now?” Excitement rings clear as a bell in her voice, and I can tell she’s smiling in the dark. I let out a sigh, happy to have my mind on something else.

“No, he just broke up with his girlfriend. He told me he isn’t ready for a relationship. I guess they dated in high school, and it’s been tough keeping their relationship together since she’s in Florida.” I can hear Jeremy and Leo laughing ahead of us in the dark, but I can barely make them out. I soon realize that Justine is missing, she was in front of us, but I can’t see her anymore.

“That’s a poor excuse, sounds like there’s a different reason he doesn’t want a relationship. Maybe he’s dating someone else but doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. I don’t get it, I’m sure you’ll find someone. We are only freshmen, and we’ll be sophomores next year; we’re almost on summer break, which is awesome.” I can hear Katie speaking next to me, but I’m lost in my mind trying to figure out where Justine is. When I catch the sound of branches crunching nearby, I turn my head, wondering what could be out at this time of night.

“Is everything okay, Chey?” Katie touches my arm, and I jump in fright as I try to look in the dark forest for Justine.

“Have you seen Justine?” Worry lacing my words, and I am trying to keep my cool to avoid going into hysterics. I soon notice that Katie has stopped walking, I turn around and walk to her side.

“Now that you mention it, no. Wasn’t she right in front of us?” She shines the light in front of us, and I see that we’re far away from the rest of the group. The fear begins to swell inside me, I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest. I can feel a panic attack coming, and I try my best to keep everything under control. An owl hoots in the distance as more branches break, sounding as though they are coming closer to us.

“WAIT UP!” Katie yells in the dark, but to no avail. The group isn’t even visible anymore. I grab Katie’s hand and begin walking in the direction I saw Jeremy and the others walking in hopes of catching up to them. I can feel Katie walking next to me, making me feel some comfort that I’m not alone. As we walk deeper into the forest, it seems more sinister and menacing than it did this morning. The sick feeling I had returned in intensity, Katie grips my hand and stops me from continuing forward.

“Did you see that?” She whispers next to me, almost like a breath. I instantly look at her trying to see what she is looking at when I follow the beam of the flashlight. I don’t see anything, she laughs.

“Sorry, I thought I saw something in the woods; it must have been my imagination, especially with that scary story we just heard.” She begins to walk again; only I’m stuck staring at the spot her flashlight was pointing. I try to see in the dark of the forest, I swear I can see something. I shake my head and quickly catch up to Katie, she grabs my hand, and we walk in silence. Crickets making the only music around us, here and there, we can see the flickering lights of fireflies. I am soon jolted from watching the fireflies, I almost fall onto the ground. I lurch forward as I lose my balance, I manage to keep from falling over as I look down to see Katie on the path. The flashlight stumbled far away from her into the woods from her fall.

“Katie, are you okay? Did you hurt anything, twist your ankle, or…break something?” I ask worried that something terrible has happened.

I can’t see anything in the dark, “I think I’m okay. Can you help me up? I need to look at what I tripped over, it didn’t feel like a branch or root.” I find her hand in the dark and provide leverage to allow her to stand. She takes a few steps continuing to hold my hand, I feel her grip tighten as she whimpers in pain. “I think I twisted my ankle, where’s my flashlight? I don’t feel like that I can’t see anything.”

Realization dawns on me as I find I’ll have to retrieve it, fear soon takes over me, and I gulp. Staring at the beam of the flashlight fighting back the darkness. “Your flashlight went flying into the woods, I can see the glow. Can you take a seat near the edge of the path? I’ll go get it for you.” Katie begins leading me to the edge of the path, I aid her as she lowers to the earth. Once I know she’s safe, I make my way to the light. I stumble some through the bushes and around the trees, as I reach the light. I lean over to grab it when I notice something in the beam staring back at me.

A face stares back at me with a twisted smile, the eyes are pure white. A scream is stuck in my throat as I can see something on top of its head like goat horns or something. My heart races fast, palms are sweaty, my mouth becomes dry. I can’t seem to break from the gaze of this creature. The face is dark in areas, most of it is covered in a white plaster-like substance. I can’t tell if it’s a woman or a man. Scars surround the mouth and neck. The nose looks off, almost like a goat’s nose. We stare at each other for what seems like hours when the trance is broken by Katie’s scream. I couldn’t contain the scream any longer, and a loud piercing sound is freed from my mouth. I somehow manage to grab the flashlight and run back towards Katie.

As I exit into the path where Katie was, she is nowhere to be seen. I yell out for her, but no sound returns. I can’t control my anxiety anymore and crumble to the ground, wrapping my arms around me. I burst into tears too terrified to move, Katie kneels down in front of my concern written across her face, which is a pale white. I begin to hyperventilate and shake uncontrollably. The silence is deafening, as I try to take deep breaths and think of what I’m going to do for summer vacation. I manage to stop hyperventilating and bring myself to stand up; I soon begin to shine the beam around to find any source of movement. I keep my eyes straight ahead. I don’t dare look in the forest for fear of seeing that face again.

I call out again, hoping for Katie to hear me and make her way back towards me. When I realize she wouldn’t be able to walk very well with her twisted ankle. I begin to wonder what happened, what caused her to scream, where she could be. I decide to walk in the direction the others were walking in, hoping to catch up to them or at least make it to camp.

It feels like I’ve been in the woods for longer than it took us this morning. I begin to wonder if I’m lost, but I can’t tell because of how dark it is. I’ve noticed there’s no sound except the sound of my footsteps. It causes me to panic a little when I heard owls and crickets making sounds moments ago. I try to comfort myself by telling myself that the others are probably already at the camp and will probably come looking for me soon. Soon a strange growl is heard from my left, causing my heart to skip.

Silence soon envelopes the woods again, until I hear new footsteps with the crunch of leaves and sticks around me, I stop, looking all around me, searching for what is making the noises. I slowly turn around to see a tall figure standing directly in the path behind me. I can feel the blood rush out of my skin, causing me to feel ice cold. I shiver to continue staring at the figure when I notice it begins to move towards me. I shine the flashlight at the outline, my hands shaking, causing the beam to jump around. The creature is the same from the one I saw in the woods, only it’s wearing some type of long cloak to some kind of necklace around its neck. Its hands are shrouded in the long sleeves that are hanging down.

My eyes begin to water, I wipe them on the sweatshirt I’m still wearing. When I look back at the path, there’s nothing there. I quickly look around, terrified that the creature is hiding close by. My heart feels like it’s in my throat as terror takes hold of me. A deep rumbled snarl is heard near the edge of the trail, it seems to come from all around me. The darkness appears to creep in, like a living organism taking over the entire area. The flashlight begins to flicker in the blackness. I hit it, only to cause it to completely go out. More movement is heard around the trail, with strange noises resounding throughout the forest.

Feeling like I’m surrounded with no way of escape and not sure what to do, I decided to sit down on the ground, remembering that when you are lost to stay where you are. I figure if I try to find Katie, I’ll most likely end up lost because of the dark.

I pull my knees up to me and wrap my arms around them as I put my head in my knees. I sit like that for a while before falling asleep, I’m startled awake as I hear something or someone approaching. I slowly raise my head to see the cloaked being from before staring directly in front of me, hunched to my level. We lock eyes, and I try not to scream when I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I shriek and jump up when I hear laughter, I turn around to see Leo with a mask and some long cloak. I begin to cry and shake, my anxiety getting the best of me again. I break down to my knees, sobbing like a child unable to hold it in anymore.

The laughing soon comes to an end as I make out the sound of a punch an ow and someone calling another person an asshole. I feel arms enfold me,

“Take slow breaths, in and out. Calm yourself, focus on something else. In and out, slower, don’t rush it.” I perceive from Justine, who has her head on my shoulder, whispering the words into my ear. I try to follow her suggestions, calming my breathing.

“I have anxiety, too, I can relate. These tricks tend to help me when I have panic attacks. Just keep taking slow breaths in and out, sometimes focusing on it can help. I’m sorry they scared you. I wasn’t apart of their scheme, I was out there looking for you and Katie with Brian.” She breaths into my ear, continuing to hold me. Once my breathing is under control, and I’m not shaking as bad, she releases her grip on me and begins to stand up. I remain seated with tears continuing to run down my face.

“What happened?” I soon ask without looking up at them, wondering who was in on the prank.

Brian soon speaks up, “Jeremy and Leo had a prank in mind and wanted to scare all of us, only Justine knows how Leo is and suspected it. I overheard them planning their devious plan and told Justine. You two were nowhere in sight when we became aware of the plot.”

“You should have seen your faces, priceless. I wish I was able to take photos would have been great.” Leo laughs as he takes his mask off and holds it.

Justine punches Leo in the arm, “You can be a real ass, can’t you see she’s absolutely terrified.”

Jeremy walks towards me and kneels in front of me, “you’re more scared than you should be. What happened?” He asks as he puts his hand on my knee.

I slowly look up into his face and see paint covering it, I look into his eyes carefully, and I’m met with his normal eyes. The confusion begins to grow, “do you have contacts?” I start to wonder who I saw in the woods or on the path behind us.

Jeremy’s face scrunches up in confusion, “no, we don’t have contacts why?”

My eyes widen in shock, what had I seen in the forest. I begin to hyperventilate and shake. He grabs my hand, “calm down and tell me what happened.”

Worry rushes over his face. “I don’t know what I saw, but there was something in the woods. The face I saw had pure white eyes and something on its head. I think it was horns made out of hair or something; I was transfixed on its face, which was off and menacing.” I pause, trying not to go into hysterics, “There was a figure in the path behind me at one point when I wiped my eyes and looked back it was gone. Was that you or Leo?” I quickly ask, needing answers. I can see Brian behind Jeremy shifting his feet, staring at the ground.

Jeremy looks up at Leo with a questioning look on his face, I soon see Leo shake his head, and Jeremy’s gaze meets mine again. “I don’t know what you saw, but it wasn’t Leo or me. Maybe you saw something caused by the fear of being in the woods or from the ghost witch tale. I’m sorry we frightened you, I didn’t know you would be this terrified or so easy to scare.”

“Well, the growls didn’t help or the cracking of sticks from footsteps. I don’t know how you managed to make your voices create those sounds, but they were extremely effective in scaring the shit out of me.” I defensively snapback, letting anger take hold instead of fear.

“Hold on, we didn’t make any growling sounds. The breaking of sticks and branches we did to raise the tensions, but nothing more.” Leo announces from behind me.

“Can we please just get out of here and back to camp? My ankle is killing me.” Katie moans from behind Jeremy.

My gaze quickly focuses on Katie, wondering how she was four feet away from me. “Katie, why did you scream? How are you here? What happened? I tried to find you, but I couldn’t.” Everything just rushes out without me able to control all my questions.

“I was still seated where you had left me to find the flashlight when these two morons scared the crap out of me. Jeremy realized I was injured and tried to help me, he kind of had to carry me because of my ankle.” Katie responds and walks over to Jeremy’s side.

Jeremy sighs and helps me up, as we all begin to leave the forest together.

Brian soon joins my side and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I let out a trembling breath, “I don’t know honestly. I wish I knew what I saw, Katie saw it too. It can’t be a coincidence that we both saw the same thing, especially if it was our imagination.”

“Can I ask you something? What traumatized you to cause you so much fear of the dark?” My heart suddenly skips a beat, and I am shocked, how could he know that I’m afraid of the dark?

“I noticed last night your reaction to the setting sun, you got a little pale. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay.”

I look up at him and give a tentative smile, I open my mouth and then shut it unsure of whether to tell him or not. “Fine, I’ll let you know, my cousin and I were attacked while we were camping when we were kids. We were ten feet away from the house in her backyard when a rabid dog attacked her. I panicked and tried to get it off her when I got a bit in the process. We both have scars, her worse than me. She had to undergo reconstruction surgery on her face. My cousin also has some permanent nerve damage in her right arm and hand. I just have scars on my left arm from its teeth. Ever since then, I don’t like being in the woods at night without some type of light, I get unbearably scared.” I turn my gaze to my feet as we continue walking.

I can feel Brian’s eyes burning into me, probably shocked at my story. “Wow, no wonder you were horrified when we found you. I can’t believe they would do that to you, does Jeremy know or not care?” Brian begins to sound hostile about the situation.

“He doesn’t know, I never dared to tell anyone about my fear. I was always picked on for my fear, I just stopped telling people after a while.” I try to appease the situation before Brian hit Jeremy.

He looks over at me and smiles, “that makes sense. I don’t blame you for not telling people your fear.” He pauses and looks away towards the group and then back at me. “I have one last question now that we’re alone. Is the offer still open to date you?”

I stare up at him and let out a laugh. “Really? Of course, it wouldn’t change that fast. What made you change your mind?” Curiosity getting the best of me.

“Leo actually, he told me I was an idiot for not asking you out. Danielle and I have been broken up for a while, except she has been stringing me along lately. Leo has been telling me for months to get rid of her since she’s been kind of toxic. I think he’s right, it’s time for me to move on too.”

I can understand, most long-distance relationships don’t work out. “I’m sorry to hear that, it’s not easy going to college in a different state than your boyfriend or girlfriend. It makes it tough when there are all these new people around. I had a girlfriend before going off to college, we broke it off within the first month of being away from each other. She had already found a new girlfriend at her college. I was planning on breaking up with her before I went off to college, I kind of became distant once I got settled.” For some reason, I can open up effortlessly to him.

“That’s true, it’s hard to stay in a relationship with someone you never see. I guess this means we’re a couple.” He says with a laugh, a sense of calm washes over me as I soon see the clearing where our camp is.

Jeremy helps Katie to our tent, Katie has a bright smile on her face. I can’t help but smile. Brian walks me over to my tent with a seductive smile on his face. Jeremy exits the tent and grins at us before going over to his tent. I can hear Katie settling into her sleeping bag. Brian looks into my eyes and leans in, knowing what he wants to do I lean forward awaiting the moment I’ve been waiting for. When I lose my balance and almost fall into him. We immediately begin laughing. In the middle of us laughing, he kisses me, which is fantastic. It is like everything around us just fell away. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. His lips are amazingly soft and sweet, my heart feels like it has stopped. Brian soon breaks the kiss, smiling at me. My eyes are still closed, and I have a stupid grin on my face.

“Have a good night, I’ll see you in the morning.” He walks away towards his tent. I couldn’t say anything even if I wanted to. I watch him enter into his tent before finally taking shelter on my own.

As I step inside, Katie is sitting up in earnest, awaiting all the details.

“So, are you a thing now?” I roll my eyes at her, still smiling.

“Yeah, he told me Leo gave him advice. He’s done with his girlfriend although I guess they already were broken up. Doesn’t matter, and the kiss was amazing.” I sit down next to her on my sleeping bag.

“Well I have news too, Jeremy asked me out.” She playfully says.

“That’s awesome, you said yes, right?” I quickly ask, laughing.

Katie says with a laugh. “Of course I did, he’s gorgeous. Who could say no to that?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. How’s your ankle doing?” I look at it propped up on pillows.

“I sprained it for sure, I’ll have to see a doctor when we get back to look at it. I want to make sure I didn’t break it or tear anything.”

“That’s a good idea, let’s try and get some sleep.” I take my boots, socks, and Jeremy’s hood. I crawl into my sleeping bag and curl up, soon sleep clutches onto me and pulls me to dreamland.

I’m soon startled awake by Katie, shoving me. “what’s going on?” I say with a yawn still groggy from sleep. I soon hear shh come from her side of the tent.

“I heard a growl from outside the tent, try not to make too much noise.” She whispers slowly in the dark.

I slowly sit up and begin to look around the shelter, wondering if I can see something. We sit in silence, we exchange glances when a low snarl is heard at the back of the tent. Katie grabs my hand, and we both look slowly behind us to see a large shadow drape across the canvas. Her grip tightens when we hear a scream from the other side of the camp. We overhear noises outside, followed by male voices yelling. Then I hear Justine yelling at who I can only guess is Leo, accusing him of playing his prank and to knock it off. Scraping sounds are soon heard around the camp, Katie and I jump when something brushes up against the side of the tent.

When Jeremy’s head pokes through the opening. “Good you two are awake, can you come outside, please. Something is going on out here, and we don’t know what is going on. I’d feel more comfortable knowing where everyone is.” He quickly says and leaves us alone again.

I promptly get up out of my tent and help Katie up. Katie blushes and motions me to go so she can change since she’s only wearing a small tank top and a pair of underwear. I shake my head and leave her to get dressed, I exit the tent and notice Jeremy’s tent is destroyed. I see Justine and Leo fighting nearby about the prank going too far. I continue scanning the camp, searching for Brian. Not seeing him, I run over to Jeremy to get answers.

“Where’s Brian? Is he okay?” Concern laces my voice as I start to think of the worst-case scenario.

Jeremy looks over at me, not sure how to respond, “He’s unconscious, we don’t know what happened.” He pauses, shaking his head, “There was something in the tent when I woke up. It was standing over him.” Jeremy looks scared, he’s shaking, and his face is milk-white. “I managed to scare it away or piss it off, not sure which. When I thought it left, it started thrashing the tent. I managed to drag Brian outside, Leo helped me put him in the SUV.” He looks at the SUV as though to confirm that Brian is alive.

I promptly walk over to the SUV to check on Brian, hoping he’ll be awake. As I near the truck, I see strange markings surrounding the vehicle. Worry creases my face as I rush over to the car, I open the driver’s side door and look around. I see Brian in the back seat laying down. I crawl into the front seat and make my way to the back. I can see his chest rise and fall, relief pervades me since I know he’s alive. I shake him a little, hoping to wake him from his slumber. I sit back, waiting for him to stir after moments go by, nothing happens. I try kissing him, only to reveal my gravest fear, when nothing happens.

Tears flood my eyes as they soon spill down my cheeks. I feel the car shake, I jump and look around. I’m greeted by a face pressed up against the glass looking in. I scream and clutch Brian. I start begging and pleading for him to wake up, as the SUV shakes again. I hear shouts from outside the vehicle. I rest my head on Brian’s chest, crying, wrapping my arms around him. Horrifying sounds perceive around the truck, I try to focus on Brian’s heartbeat.

Suddenly I jump up, squinting my eyes from the bright lights, sitting up in what feels like a bed. When I hear a strange female voice shout, “SHE’S AWAKE!”. I catch the sound of footsteps leaving, then after a few moments more rush in. I still can’t seem to get my eyes to adjust to the light.

Someone touches my shoulder, “Can you move your hands and feet for me?” I slowly open my eyes to see a doctor in a white coat standing next to me. I start to wriggle my toes and then move my hands. I turn my gaze in his direction again and can see a smile spread across his face.

“She’s just fine, besides the minor cuts and bruises. It seems Cheyanne here is a fighter, she isn’t as injured as the others.” It takes a moment for the realization to kick in, I stare at the doctor, and I can hear the heart monitor beeping faster. I must have a shocked expression on my face because the doctor tries to force a hopeful smile.

“Do you know what happened to your friends?” He asks as I shift in my bed trying to get comfortable. Memories soon flood my mind as the recollection of last night dawns on me.

“Jeremy, Katie, Justine, Leo, Brian and myself went camping over the weekend. We visited the reservation—then, on our way back, Katie and I were separated from the group.” I sit there, trying to remember everything that happened.

“Katie tripped and fell, I went to get the flashlight. When I heard her scream, after I retrieved the flashlight and returned to where she was, she was gone. We later found out it was a huge prank created by Jeremy and Leo. Later that night, strange sounds were heard, and Jeremy’s tent was destroyed. Brian was unconscious, and we couldn’t wake him up, that’s all I remember.” I sit there with a puzzled expression on my face trying to remember more because it seems like I’m forgot something.

I hear the doctor shift in his seat and clear his throat, “Cheyanne, you were in a coma for three months. I’ll let your parents tell you about your friends since you won’t be able to see them right now. Only family is allowed to visit you currently because we still need to monitor your condition. I scheduled you for a CAT scan and an MRI, I want to make sure your brain is in good condition.” The doctor rises, walks towards the door, and leaves me to my thoughts that keep racing.

I can’t help but wonder what happened to everyone that night, is Brian, okay? What happened to the others? What happened that night? Too many questions jump into my head, causing me to worry more. I stare at the blanket on my lap, not realizing that my parents just entered.

“Sweetie, it’s great to see you finally awake. We’ve been worried sick about you. How are you feeling?” My mom rushes over to me and hugs me tightly with tears running down her face. My dad stands on the other side of my bed, concern written all over his face. Mom weakens her grip and stops next to me with her hand on my shoulder. I think she needs the contact to confirm I’m awake.

“Chey, do you need anything or want anything from home? I think you’ll be here for a while.” My dad sounds anxious for me to be home, I can’t blame him.

I hesitate before asking and then decide to leap right in, “Mom, do you know what happened to Katie, Brian, Jeremy, Justine, and Leo?” I continue looking at my blanket, not sure I want to see the verdict on my mother’s face.

I feel the moments tick by before my mother finally speaks, “well, Katie broke her ankle, and she had deep scratches on her left side that took a lot of stitches as well as surgery. Katie let me know when she came by to visit you. Jeremy tore his ACL and various broken bones, he’s still in the hospital. Leo and Justine had minor cuts and scrapes.” My mom pauses, I look over at her, and I can see her staring at my dad.

My dad turns his gaze to me with a look of worry. “Brian is badly injured, he got busted up pretty bad trying to save you from whatever attacked your camp. The police don’t believe it was a bear, there weren’t any tracks, and the markings don’t appear bear-like. They’re thinking it might be a mountain lion, but are unsure.” My father looks down at the ground shaking his head.

I gulp before asking the dreaded question, “Is he still alive?” Tears begin to well up into my eyes, I try to fight them back.

My mother lets out a deep sigh, “he is still alive. However, his back was shredded, and the doctors think he won’t walk again.” I can’t hold back the tears anymore when I soon realize that he should be fine and in a coma.

“Mom, he was in a coma and fine when I last saw him. We were in the SUV safe and sound, he was just unconscious.” I stare at my mom, who then looks at my dad. They exchange looks before she turns her attention back to me.

“Sweetie, the park rangers found you in the SUV with Brian outside the vehicle. Jeremy was found inside the tent that was destroyed. Justine and Leo ran, probably why they weren’t as injured like the rest of you. What we can’t understand is how you were in a coma.” I stare at my mother, confused when two police officers walk into the room.

I look up at them, wondering what they were doing here. When I remember the doctor telling me that the police would want to talk to me. I can’t understand why they would want to speak to me when they apparently have more information than I do.

The police look at my parents and ask them to give us a moment because they would like to ask me some questions. One police officer appears older than the other; he has graying hair, whereas his partner has short brown hair that is military cut. My parents explain that they’ll be out in the hallway if I need anything. My mom kisses my forehead before my father leads her out of the room. Once the police are sure, no one is around to overhear our conversation, they walk closer to my bed.

The older police officer begins, “My name is officer Todd, and this is officer Nathan. We would just like to ask you a few questions about your camping trip if that’s all right with you.” He pauses, and I nod, just wanting to get this over with.

“Were any of you involved in any cult or occult group?” I look at him, thinking he’s trying to be funny and I laugh. I immediately stop when I see that his face is not kidding.

I blush and look at my lap, “not that I know of, Justine, Brian, Leo, and Jeremy are part of an anthropology course together writing a paper. They were studying certain legends from different tribes. Why do you ask?” I look up at both of them, and they exchange looks.

“Well, the vehicle you were in was surrounded by strange markings. We’ve spoken to the reservation your group visited, and the symbols are close but not exact.” Shocked, I stare at him, why my mouth hanging open.

“Those were real? My memory seems to be fuzzy about that night.”

The officer named Nathan looks at me with a small smile, “They are genuine. Can you tell us if there is anyone you can think of that might have tried to hurt you or scare you?” His eyes are calm and understanding.

I think about it, and the face in the woods creeps into my memory. I can’t tell them about that, they’ll think I’m nuts. I can’t seem to think of anyone who would try and scare us or injure us. “No, I can’t think of anyone. Leo started the prank, and Justine seemed to think he was the one behind it. However, the growls and shapes that I heard couldn’t have been made by him. They didn’t sound human at all, more animal than man.” I ramble, hoping I’m making sense. When I see the older officer, Todd, with a look of confusion on his face.

“What noises exactly did you hear?”

I try to think about it, but I can’t place it. The sounds were nothing I have heard before, and I doubt they would believe me.

“I’m not sure, to be honest, I’ve never heard them before. I do remember seeing things in the woods, but it could have been caused by my phobia of the dark.” I try to justify my answer because I know they won’t believe me.

Nathan looks at me, skeptically, “what did you see exactly?”

I look at him somewhat surprised, “I saw a face in the woods with scars around its mouth, white eyes, and white paint around its eyes, nose, and mouth. However, the face looked off, which could have been from prosthetics or a mask.” I pause, trying to collect my thoughts.

“I remember seeing the same figure later on in the night after Katie, and I separated; it was tall wearing a long cloak. I saw it again when I had a panic attack and passed out. It was right before Jeremy and Leo appeared out of the woods trying to scare me.” I try to remember anything else that might be helpful.

Todd looks at me and takes out a notebook writing down what I had just told them. I gaze at him, wondering if what information I had given was helpful. When Todd finishes writing down his notes, he looks raises his head to look at me. “Is it possible it was Jeremy or Leo trying to scare you?”

I think back to that night, and I can remember Jeremy didn’t have contacts or Leo. The mask Leo was wearing didn’t resemble what I saw; I shake my head no in response, still deep in thought.

“Are you sure? Is there anything else you can remember?” Nathan sounds somewhat concerned with my statement.

I exhale, “I’m sure that it wasn’t Leo or Jeremy because they didn’t have white contacts, and Leo’s mask didn’t look anything like what I had seen.” I pause, trying to figure out if there is anything else about the creature I saw. When it dawns on me that it was wearing a necklace.

“The creature was wearing a necklace, it was a weird shape around its neck. I didn’t recognize the pendant.”

Todd and Nathan exchange looks, “we’re going to need a sketch artist to get a detailed description of the pendant and figure. The other’s described something similar to her, we need to investigate all leads.” Todd says to Nathan, who nods and walks out of the room to make a call.

Todd continues to write things down and then looks at me with his head still down at his notebook. “We’re going to have you listen to some sounds to see if we can match what you heard later, okay? A sketch artist will be in as well to draw what you have seen, anything to help our search for this being you all saw.” He nods and walks out of the room.

I am greeted by nurses who explain they are taking me to have the CAT scan done. They wheel me into the room, which is slightly dark. I look around the room and don’t see much besides the machine. Once they finish with the CAT scan, I’m wheeled back to my room to see Katie. I smile at her, and she runs over, hugging me. The nurses leave us and explain that tomorrow I’ll have the MRI.

They put the menu for dinner on my tray. After the nurses exit the room, Katie breaks the hug. I can see that she has crutches. “How are you doing? How’s the ankle? I didn’t think you broke it.” Concern shows itself on my face as I can feel my forehead crease.

Katie smiles and sits down in the seat nearby. “Apparently I did, but I’m fine. Did the police come to talk with you already?”

“Yeah, they asked me about what I saw that night and if I could think of anyone that would want to hurt us or scare us.” I look towards the doorway.

“They asked me the same questions, I just remember the campsite. It was horrifying, Jeremy didn’t make it out of the tent. He got hurt really bad, I’m hoping he’ll be released from here soon. He’s had to undergo surgery for his knee and his broken ribs, I guess they shattered. I’ve been freaking out, one punctured his lung.” Katie starts to cry, and I can sympathize with her. She’s liked Jeremy since we started at The University of Maine, he was in her first class.

“I’m sure he’ll be okay. What do you remember about that night? I guess I got some stuff mixed up.” I say, looking at her stare at her lap.

Katie slowly raises her gaze to meet mine, “I woke up to strange noises outside the tent, then I saw a figure inside the tent above you. I screamed, it took off or so I thought. You were unconscious, I ran outside the tent only to find that Jeremy’s was destroyed. Brian was trying to get him out of the tent.” She pauses sobbing uncontrollably.

I get up out of bed and walk to her. My head starts to spin, and I almost fall over. I shake my head and make my way over to the chair next to her. I plop down in the chair and try to focus.

“It’s okay, it’s over now. We’re safe, and they are too. We’ll get through this together. The police will find the creature, I’m sure of it.” I say, rubbing her arm.

Katie rubs her eyes, grabs a tissue, and blows her nose. She looks over at me, “I need to tell you what happened.” She lets out a shaky sigh, “Once Brian got Jeremy out of the tent, blood was everywhere. When Brian saw me, he ran over to me, terrified. Leo and Justine were still fighting, which was stupid; we needed help. I told Brian what I saw and that I couldn’t wake you up. He went in and picked you up, he was carrying you to the SUV when something rammed into him. I screamed, he slowly got up and went over to you. He picked you up again and staggered towards the SUV. He managed to get you in before the creature attacked again. His back was turned towards the figure. I saw him—get shredded.” Sobs overtake her, and I hug her.

When the realization hits me, what if Justine and Leo were behind this. Justine knew about Leo’s jokes, yet she didn’t stop him. She didn’t try to help anyone, they were the two least affected, and they were nowhere in sight when we were found. My mouth opens in the shocked realization that they may have planned this from the beginning. I break my hold on Katie and stare at her, “can you tell me exactly what you remember about Justine and Leo? Do you remember what they were yelling about? Do you know where they went or what they said? Did you see anyone draw strange markings around the vehicle?” I ramble on and on with my questions, as my head begins to spin again.

Katie looks at me, curiosity clearly shown across her face, “Let me think, okay.” She pauses, appearing to be deep in thought. The two cops from before, walk into the room, not realizing we aren’t alone anymore she starts recounting what happened.

“Justine and Leo were yelling, I remember her clearly saying that it went too far, this wasn’t supposed to happen. I’m not sure about the strange markings, they already were there when I got out of the tent.” She continues to think, staring at her lap. “Wait, there was something odd about them. It was late; we all had already gone to bed, yet they were still dressed in normal clothes. What do you think they were talking about? What wasn’t supposed to happen?” Katie quizzically looks up at me, and I see the police walk out of the room.

I have a feeling Leo and Justine will be getting interviewed again. I shake my head in disbelief, causing my head to spin again. I put my hand up to the back of my head and feel a bandage, realization that I must have whacked my head on a rock when I was tossed out of Brian’s arms. Hope washes over me as I know we’ll be okay, and everything will get sorted out with Justine and Leo. I’m curious to know what new information the police gather from them about that night.